Air flow direction changing device for air conditioning device

ABSTRACT

An air flow direction changing device of an air conditioning device according to the present invention includes: a lateral louver which is rotatably provided on the front side of a blowout port of a cabinet; a control section which changes the blowout direction of air sent from a fan by rotatably driving and controlling the lateral louver in the front surface of the blowout port; and a straightening plate which is provided on the rear side of the lateral louver in the blowout port and straighten the air flow from the fan located on the rear side in the passageway, and is configured such that the control section improves the blowing performance by controlling the rotation attitude of the lateral louver in such a manner that, when the lateral louver is held in an upward blowout attitude, an air blowing guide passage longer than the depth length of the lateral louver itself is formed by cooperation of the upper surface of the lateral louver with the upper surface of the straightening plate.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an air conditioning device including anair flow direction changing device which changes the direction of airblown out from a blowout port of a cabinet.

BACKGROUND ART

When the air flow direction control of an air passageway is performed inan air conditioning device, an air guide panel configured to freely openand close a front opening of a cabinet, and an auxiliary louver arrangednear a blowout port located on the rear side of the air guide panel arecontrolled (see Patent Literature 1). However, since the air guide paneland the auxiliary louver are respectively arranged near the blowout portand also independently controlled, the air blowing performance isinfluenced by the length of the auxiliary louver and of the air guidepanel. Therefore, in an air conditioning device whose size and cost areto be reduced, it is difficult to improve the air blowing performance byusing a configuration in which both the auxiliary louver and the airguide panel are simultaneously assembled.

For this reason, as another method for improving the air blowingperformance by using either the panel structure or the auxiliary louver,a method is conceivable in which the size (depth length) of theauxiliary louver (lateral louver) is increased to improve the airblowing performance. However, when the lateral louver which freelychanges the air flow direction is used in a portion of the blowout port,the air blowing performance is influenced by the rotational angle andthe shape of the lateral louver, and further by the operation torque ofthe lateral louver, the increase in the depth length of the auxiliarylouver is limited and may result in cost increase.

In Patent Literature 2, an air conditioning device is disclosed in whicha horizontal blade corresponding to the lateral louver, and an auxiliaryplate located on the rear side of the horizontal blade are used, and inwhich air passing between the auxiliary plate and a guide plate providedon the rear surface side of the air passageway is guided along the guideplate so that discharge air can be made to flow along the guide plateeven by using the guide plate having a length shorter than the length ofa conventional guide plate.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-138892-   Patent Literature 2: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-29221    (microfilm)

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, the air conditioning device disclosed in Patent Literature 2provides only an improvement in the air blowing structure between theauxiliary plate and the guide plate, and provides no contribution to theimprovement of the air blowing performance that sends air to a distantplace by using the horizontal blade (horizontal louver).

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention toprovide an air flow direction changing device of an air conditioningdevice, the air flow direction changing device being capable ofimproving the air blowing performance without enlarging the shape of thelateral louver.

Solution to Problem

In order to achieve the above described object, an air flow directionchanging device of an air conditioning device according to the presentinvention is featured by including: a blowout port formed in a frontsurface of an air passageway in a cabinet; a lateral louver rotatablyprovided on the front side of the blowout port; a control sectionconfigured to change the blowout direction of air sent from a fan byrotatably driving and controlling the lateral louver in the frontsurface of the blowout port; and a straightening plate which is providedon the rear side of the lateral louver in the blowout port andstraighten the air flow from the fan located on the rear side in thepassageway, and is featured in that the control section controls therotation attitude of the lateral louver so that, when the lateral louveris held in an upward blowout attitude, an air blowing guide passagelonger than the length of the lateral louver itself is formed bycooperation of the upper surface of the lateral louver with the uppersurface of the straightening plate.

In the above-described configuration, the control section performs therotation control of the lateral louver. The control section controls therotation attitude of the lateral louver so that, when the lateral louveris held in the upward blowout attitude, the air blowing guide passage isformed by cooperation of the upper surface of the lateral louver withthe upper surface of the straightening plate. At this time, the laterallouver and the straightening plate are integrated together in a pseudomanner, so as to form the air blowing guide passage longer than the airblowing guide passage of the lateral louver itself. Thereby, it ispossible to improve the air blowing performance by combining theexisting straightening plate and the existing lateral louver with eachother.

In this way, it is possible to provide a blowout port structure which iscompact and capable of reducing cost while improving the air blowingperformance without increasing the number of components and withoutincreasing the depth length of the lateral louver itself, that is,without increasing the length of the plate surface of the lateral louverin the direction perpendicular to the left and right direction.

Here, the lateral louver is configured by one lateral louver member, andis arranged to cover the front opening of the cabinet when the laterallouver is held in a closed attitude. The lateral louver can be formed tohave a curved surface shape corresponding to the curved surface shape ofthe front opening of the cabinet. Thereby, the lateral louver can closethe blowout port so as to configure a part of the exterior portion ofthe cabinet.

Note that the lateral louver can take the closed attitude in which thelateral louver closes the opening of the cabinet, the upward blowoutattitude in which the lower end of the lateral louver is rotated to theside of the straightening plate so that the air blowing guide passage isformed by cooperation of the upper surface of the lateral louver withthe upper surface of the straightening plate, and a downward blowoutattitude in which the lower end of the lateral louver is exposed to theoutside of the cabinet so as to guide downward the air blown out fromthe blowout port. The lateral louver is made rotatable between theupward blowout attitude and the downward blowout attitude. The closedattitude, in which the opening of the cabinet is closed by the laterallouver, exists between the upward blowout attitude and the downwardblowout attitude of the lateral louver.

The rotary shaft of the lateral louver may be arranged at any positionof the louver. For example, the rotary shaft may be arranged at thecentral position of the lateral louver in the depth direction, or mayalso be arranged at a position close to the upper end position of thelateral louver.

Further, in the state where the lateral louver is held in the upwardblowout attitude, the inner surface side of the lateral louver is formedin a recessed curved surface. Thereby, the air blowing guide passagelonger than the length of the lateral louver itself can be formed bycooperation of the inner surface side of the lateral louver with thestraightening plate arranged on the rear side of the lateral louver. Theinner surface side of the lateral louver is formed in the recessedcurved surface. Therefore, the air blowing guide passage enables the airblown out from the blowout port to be blown out along the recessedcurved surface in the obliquely upward direction so as to be sent to adistant place.

Further, a plurality of vertical louvers are arranged on the rear sideof the lateral louver in a swingable manner, so that the direction ofair from the fan can be changed in the left and right direction. Thedirection of the air blown out from the blowout port can be changed bythe plurality of vertical louvers, so that the air can be sent to a mostsuitable place.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotationattitude of the lateral louver is controlled so that, when the laterallouver is held in the upward blowout attitude, the air blowing guidepassage is formed by cooperation of the upper surface of the laterallouver with the upper surface of the straightening plate. Thereby, thelateral louver and the straightening plate are integrated together in apseudo manner, so as to form the air blowing guide passage which islonger than the air blowing guide passage of the lateral louver itself.As a result, it is possible to provide a blowing structure which iscompact and capable of reducing cost while improving the air blowingperformance by combining the existing straightening plate and theexisting lateral louver with each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an indoor unit of an airconditioning device according to a present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a closed attitude of a laterallouver in the indoor unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an upward blowout attitude ofthe lateral louver shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a downward blowout attitude ofthe lateral louver shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a rotating state of the laterallouver shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the louver and the fan of theindoor unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a control flow chart of the louver and the fan of the indoorunit shown in FIG. 1.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 Cabinet-   2 Suction port-   3 Opening of cabinet-   4 Blowout port-   5 Air passageway-   6 Heat exchanger-   7 Fan-   8 Rear plate-   9 Left cover-   10 Right cover-   11 Front panel-   12 Louver unit-   13 Grille-   14 Filter-   15 Drain pan-   15 a Rear wall surface of drain pan-   15 b Bottom wall surface of drain pan-   15 c Tip section of drain pan-   16 Rear guide wall of rear plate-   17 Peripheral edge member-   18 Lateral louver-   18 a Surface of lateral louver-   18 b Back surface of lateral louver-   18 c Lower end of lateral louver-   19 Straightening plate-   19 a Surface of straightening plate-   20 Vertical louver-   21 Lower member-   22 Side plate-   23 Vertical louver motor-   24 Lateral louver motor-   25 Coupling rod-   26 Rotary shaft-   30 Control section-   31 Operation section-   32 Louver position detection section-   33 Fan motor

Description of Embodiments

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present embodiment isdescribed by using, as an example, an indoor unit of a separate type airconditioner which is an example of an air conditioning device. In theair conditioner of this type, a heat exchanger housed in an indoor unit,and a compressor, a four way valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, and arestriction apparatus (all not shown), which are housed in an outdoorunit (not shown), are connected by a refrigerant pipe to form arefrigerating cycle, and thereby various modes of operation, such ascooling, heating, and dehumidification operations, can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the indoor unit, a suction port 2 for suckingindoor air is formed in the upper surface of a cabinet 1, and a blowoutport 4 is formed in an opening 3 below the front surface of the cabinet1. In the inside of the cabinet 1, an air passageway 5 extending fromthe suction port 2 to the blowout port 4 is formed, and a heat exchanger6 and a fan 7 are arranged in the air passageway 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exterior portion of the cabinet 1 is configuredby combining together a rear plate 8, a left cover 9, a right cover 10,a front panel 11, and a louver unit 12.

A grille 13 is provided on the front surface side of the suction port 2,and a filter 14 is arranged on the back surface side of the suction port2. The filter 14 can be taken out from the front side by opening thefront panel 11. The heat exchanger 6 is arranged in a reverse V-shape onthe side of the suction port in the air passageway 5. Under a heatexchanger 6 a which is a front portion of the heat exchanger arranged inthe reverse V-shape, a drain pan 15 having an upward-opening U shape incross section is arranged.

The fan 7 is arranged on the downstream side of the heat exchanger 6 inthe air passageway 5. The fan 7 is a cross flow fan and is arranged soas to be surrounded by the heat exchanger 6 arranged in the reverseV-shape.

An air blowing guide walls are formed on both front and rear sides onthe downstream side of the fan 7 in the air passageway 5 so as to guidethe air from the fan 7 from the blowout port 4 to the front opening ofthe cabinet 1. In the air passageway 5, the air blowing guide wall onthe front side is configured by a rear wall surface 15 a and a bottomwall surface 15 b of the drain pan 15. The air blowing guide wall on therear side is configured by a rear guide wall 16 formed on the front sideof the rear plate 8 of the cabinet 1. The rear guide wall 16 is formedin a recessed curved surface so as to guide the air from the fan 7toward the front side. The fan 7 is arranged in a space formed betweenthe rear wall surface 15 a of the drain pan 15 and the rear guide wall16 on the side of the rear plate 8.

The louver unit 12 configures a part of an air flow direction changingdevice. The louver unit 12 includes a peripheral edge member 17 in thecentral portion of which the blowout port 4 is formed, a lateral louver18 which is rotatably provided in front of the blowout port 4, astraightening plate 19 which is arranged on the rear side of the laterallouver 18 in the blowout port 4 and straightens the air flow from thefan 7, and a plurality of vertical louvers 20 which are arranged on therear side of the lateral louver 18 in a swingable manner.

The peripheral edge member 17 is configured such that a lower member 21for supporting the vertical louver 20 in a swingable manner, left andright side plates 22, and an upper member are formed integrally in aframe shape, and such that the blowout port 4 is formed in the centralportion of the frame shape. The upper member is configured by the drainpan 15, and the bottom wall surface 15 b of the drain pan 15 configuresthe port wall surface on the upper side of the blowout port 4.

The lower member 21 configures the lower exterior portion of the cabinet1. The rear end section of the lower member 21 is engaged with the frontsection of the rear plate 8, and the peripheral edge member 17 is fixedto the rear plate 8 with screws. The upper surface of the lower member21 is formed as an air blowing guide surface 21 a which is graduallyinclined downward to the front side so as to be connected to the rearguide wall 16 of the rear plate 8.

On the air blowing guide surface 21 a, a plurality of the verticallouvers 20 are provided in a swingable manner so as to change thedirection of the air from the fan 7 in the left and right direction.Each of the vertical louvers 20 is formed in a plate shape having a thinmiddle section in the front and rear direction, and is configured to beswingable in the left and right direction. The rear end section of eachof the vertical louvers 20 is detachably engaged, from the rear side,with an engagement section formed on the lower member 21. The front endsection of each of the vertical louvers 20 is configured to change theair flow direction, and is configured to be able to change the angle ofthe air flow direction in the left and right direction by the thinmiddle section.

The plurality of vertical louvers 20 are laterally connected with eachother by a coupling rod 25 in the left and right direction connected tothe front end section of each of the vertical louvers 20, so that theplurality of vertical louvers 20 are swung in unison with each other inthe left and right direction by a vertical louver motor 23 connected toone end of coupling rod 25 (not shown, see FIG. 6).

The straightening plate 19 is arranged substantially at a middleposition in the vertical direction in the blowout port 4 and above thevertical louver 20, so as to face a lower tip section 15 c which is thecorner section between the rear wall surface 15 a and the bottom wallsurface 15 b of the drain pan 15. The straightening plate 19 is formedto have a flat elliptically-shaped cross-section formed by a short axisextending in the vertical direction and a long axis extending in thefront and rear direction so that turbulent flows generated around thelower tip section 15 c of the drain pan 15 can be straightened to beblown out toward the front side. The straightening plate 19 is extendedbetween the left and right side plates 22 of the peripheral edge member17. In addition to the straightening function, the straightening plate19 also has a role to prevent a user's fingertip from entering theblowout port 4 to contact the fan 7.

The lateral louver 18 is configured by one lateral louver member, andeach of left and right end sections of the lateral louver 18 issupported by each of the side plates 22 of the peripheral edge member 17so as to be rotatable about a rotary shaft 26 whose axis direction isset in the left and right direction. The lateral louver 18 is driven bya lateral louver motor 24 (see FIG. 6) connected to the rotary shaft 26.In the present embodiment, the rotary shaft 26 of the lateral louver 18is located at an upper end section of the lateral louver 18. Note thatthe bottom wall surface 15 b of the drain pan 15 is formed in a recessedshape in order to prevent that, when the lateral louver 18 is rotated,the upper end section of the lateral louver 18 collides with the bottomwall surface 15 b of the drain pan 15 to regulate the rotation of thelateral louver 18.

The lateral louver 18 is arranged so as to cover the front opening 3 ofthe cabinet 1 in the closed attitude of the lateral louver 18, and isformed to have a curved surface shape corresponding to the curvedsurface shape of the front opening 3 of the cabinet 1. Therefore, whenthe lateral louver 18 is held in the closed attitude, the blowout port 4is substantially closed by the lateral louver 18, and the front surfaceside 18 a of the lateral louver 18 forms a part of the exterior portionof the cabinet 1.

The inner surface (back surface) shape of the lateral louver 18 is alsoformed in a curved surface shape corresponding to the surface side shapeof the lateral louver 18. That is, the lateral louver 18 is formed to becurved in an arched shape in side view, and the inner surface side (backsurface side) of the lateral louver 18 is formed into a recessed curvedsurface. When the lateral louver 18 is held in an upward blowoutattitude A, an air blowing guide passage longer than the depth length ofthe lateral louver itself is formed by cooperation of the lateral louver18 with the straightening plate 19 located on the rear side of thelateral louver 18.

Further, the lateral louver 18 can take a closed attitude B in which theopening 3 of the cabinet 1 is closed by the lateral louver 18, theupward blowout attitude A in which the lower end 18 c of the laterallouver 18 is rotated to the side of the straightening plate 19 so thatthe air blowing guide passage is formed by cooperation of the uppersurface (back surface) 18 b of the lateral louver 18 with the uppersurface 19 a of the straightening plate 19, and a downward blowoutattitude C in which the lower end 18 c of the lateral louver 18 isrotated to project to the outside of the cabinet 1 so as to guidedownward the air blown out from the blowout port 4.

That is, the lateral louver 18 is made rotatable between the upwardblowout attitude A and the downward blowout attitude C. The closedattitude B, in which the opening 3 of the cabinet 1 is closed, exists inthe middle of the rotation trajectory of the lateral louver 18 betweenthe upward blowout attitude A and the downward blowout attitude C.

Further, a control section 30 is provided, which drives and controls thelateral louver 18 rotatably in the front surface of the blowout port 4so as to change the blowout direction of the air from the fan 7. Thecontrol section 30 is configured by a microcomputer, and the input sideof the control section 30 is connected, as shown in FIG. 6, to anoperation section 31 provided in a remote controller, or the like, andto a louver position detection section 32 which detects the position ofthe lateral louver 18. The output side of the control section 30 isconnected to the lateral louver motor 24, the vertical louver motor 23,and a fan motor 33.

The control section 30 performs switching for starting a mode ofoperation and switching between operation modes according to a commandsignal from the operation section 31 mounted in a remote controller, orthe like. For example, when a command signal indicating a heatingoperation mode is inputted from the operation section 31, the controlsection 30 drives and controls the lateral louver motor 24 so that thelateral louver 18 is rotated from the closed attitude B to the downwardblowout attitude C. Further, when a command signal indicating a coolingoperation mode is inputted from the operation section 31, the controlsection 30 drives and controls the lateral louver motor 24 so that thelateral louver 18 is rotated from the closed attitude to the upwardblowout attitude A. Further, according to each operation mode, thecontrol section 30 performs an attitude changing operation from theupward blowout attitude A to the downward blowout attitude C, or anattitude changing operation from downward blowout attitude C to theupward blowout attitude A. For example, there is an operation mode inwhich the lateral louver 18 is held in the downward blowout attitude Cto guide the air from the fan 7 to the floor surface side, so that therapid cooling is locally performed on the floor surface side, and inwhich the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is then changed from thedownward blowout attitude C to the upward blowout attitude A, so thatthe cool air from the fan 7 is discharged toward the side of the ceilingso as to reach a distant place.

The louver position detection section 32, which is provided to detectthe attitude of the lateral louver 18, can be configured by amicro-switch, a photo sensor, or the like, which is arranged at theperipheral edge member 17 so as to correspond to each of the attitudesA, B and C. Alternatively, when the lateral louver motor 24 is astepping motor, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which theposition of the lateral louver 18 is detected by performing calculationbased on the pulse signal applied to the lateral louver motor 24.

In response to the signal from the louver position detection section 32,the control section 30 can stop the lateral louver 18 at each of thepositions respectively corresponding to the upward blowout attitude A,the closed attitude B, and the downward blowout attitude C. Inparticular, the control section 30 controls the rotation attitude(upward blowout attitude) of the lateral louver 18 so that, when thelateral louver 18 is held in the upward blowout attitude A, the airblowing guide passage longer than the depth length of the lateral louveritself is formed by cooperation of the upper surface (inner surface 18b) of the lateral louver 18 with the upper surface 19 a of thestraightening plate 19.

Further, according to a command signal from the operation section 31 ora temperature signal from a temperature sensor (not shown), the controlsection 30 can control the rotational speed of the fan motor 33, so asto control the air volume of the fan 7.

Further, the control section 30 can also control the rotational speed ofthe fan motor 33 according to the rotation state of the lateral louver18. That is, the control section 30 controls the fan motor 33 to beoperated at a low speed or to be stopped when changing the attitude ofthe lateral louver 18 from the downward blowout attitude C or the upwardblowout attitude A to the closed attitude B. This is because, when thelateral louver 18 is held in the closed attitude B, the opening of thecabinet 1 is substantially closed as shown in FIG. 2, and hence, whenthe fan motor 33 is operated as usual in this state, the load applied tothe fan 7 is reduced. As a result, the number of revolutions of the fan7 is increased, which becomes a cause of noise generation. To cope withthis, the control section 30 performs control so that the fan 7 isstopped when the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed to theclosed attitude B.

Further, when the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed to theclosed attitude B according to the attitude changing operation from theupward blowout attitude A to the downward blowout attitude C, or on thecontrary, when the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed to theclosed attitude B according to the attitude changing operation from thedownward blowout attitude C to the upward blowout attitude A, thecontrol section 30 performs, upon reception of the signal from thelouver position detection section 32, control to stop the fan 7 or tooperate the fan 7 at a low speed as the lateral louver 18 approaches theclosed attitude B. When, after the lateral louver 18 is once held in theclosed attitude B, the lateral louver 18 then opens the opening 3 inorder to be held in the upward blowout attitude A or the downwardblowout attitude C, the control section 30 again performs control toincrease the rotation speed of the fan 7. Thereby, it is possible toprevent the generation of noise at the time when the load applied to thefan 7 is reduced as the lateral louver 18 approaches the closed attitudeB and when the number of revolutions of the fan 7 is thereby increased.Also, the air again starts to be blown out in the state where theopening 3 is opened, and hence a comfortable operation state can beobtained.

That is, while the control section 30 monitors the attitude of thelateral louver 18 on the basis of the signal from the louver positiondetection section 32, the control section 30 controls the fan motor 33to be stopped or to be driven at a low speed when the attitude of thelateral louver 18 is changed to the closed attitude. Further, when theattitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed from the closed attitude Bto the upward blowout attitude A or the downward blowout attitude C, thecontrol section 30 performs control to gradually increase the rotationspeed of the fan motor 33 so that the fan motor 33 is driven at theoriginal rotation speed.

Further, the control section 30 also controls the rotation speed of thelateral louver motor 24 so that the rotation speed of the lateral louver18 is different between when the attitude of the lateral louver 18 ischanged from the upward blowout attitude A to the closed attitude B, andwhen the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed from the downwardblowout attitude C to the closed attitude B.

This is because the rotation angle at the time when the attitude of thelateral louver 18 is changed from the upward blowout attitude A to theclosed attitude B is smaller than the rotation angle at the time whenthe attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed from the downwardblowout attitude C to the closed attitude B. That is, the opening 3 ofthe cabinet 1 is formed in an obliquely downward direction at the frontlower section of the cabinet, and hence when the lateral louver 18 isheld in the closed attitude B, the lower end 18 c of the lateral louver18 is inclined to the side of the blowout port with respect to thevertical direction. On one hand, when the lateral louver 18 is held inthe downward blowout attitude C, the lower end 18 c of the laterallouver 18 is opened to the front side with respect to the verticaldirection. On the other hand, when the lateral louver 18 is held in theupward blowout attitude A, the lower end 18 c of the lateral louver 18is located close to the straightening plate 19.

Therefore, the rotation angle of the lateral louver 18 from the closedattitude B to the upward blowout attitude A is smaller than the rotationangle of the lateral louver 18 from the closed attitude B to thedownward blowout attitude C. For this reason, when the attitude changingoperations respectively corresponding to the different rotation anglesare performed at the same speed, the time required for the change fromthe closed attitude B to the upward blowout attitude A is shorter thanthe time required for the change from the closed attitude B to thedownward blowout attitude C. Therefore, when the attitude of the laterallouver 18 is changed from the upward blowout attitude A to the closedattitude B, the rotation speed control (stop control) to reduce therotation speed of the fan motor 33 may not be able to catch up with therotation speed of the lateral louver 18.

To cope with this, when the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changedfrom the upward blowout attitude A to the closed attitude B, the controlsection 30 controls the lateral louver motor 24 to be rotated at a speedlower than the speed at the time when the attitude of the lateral louver18 is changed from the downward blowout attitude C to the closedattitude B. Thereby, the fan motor 33 is controlled to be surely stoppedor driven at a low speed when the lateral louver 18 is held in theclosed attitude B. In other words, in the attitude changing operation ofthe lateral louver 18 in which the lateral louver 18 is rotated by thesmaller rotation angle between the rotation angle of the lateral louver18 from the upward blowout attitude A to the closed attitude B and therotation angle of the lateral louver 18 from the downward blowoutattitude C to the closed attitude B, the rotation speed of the laterallouver motor 24 is controlled to be reduced so that, at the time of thisattitude changing operation of the lateral louver 18, the rotation speedcontrol to reduce the rotation speed of the fan motor 33 can catch upwith the attitude changing operation of the lateral louver 18. Thereby,the generation of noise can be prevented when the load applied to thefan 7 is reduced as the lateral louver 18 approaches the closed attitudeB, and when the rotation speed of the fan 7 is thereby increased.

In the above-described configuration, when the indoor unit is stopped,the lateral louver 18 is held in the closed attitude B in which thelateral louver 18 substantially closes the front opening 3 of thecabinet 1 as shown in FIG. 2. Here, when an operation command, forexample, a cooling operation command, is outputted from the operationsection 31, the control section 30 drives the refrigerating cycle inresponse to the signal. Further, the control section 30 changes theattitude of the lateral louver 18 from the closed attitude B to theupward blowout attitude A (see FIG. 3), and drives and controls the fanmotor 33. Thereby, the fan 7 is rotated, so that the air is blown out tothe front side from the blowout port 4 through the air passageway 5.

When the lateral louver 18 is held in the upward blowout attitude A, theair blowing guide passage is formed in such a manner that the innersurface 18 b of the lateral louver 18 and the upper surface 19 a of thestraightening plate 19 are integrated together in a pseudo manner bycooperation of the inner surface 18 b with the upper surface 19 a, so asto be substantially connected with each other. That is, since the airblowing guide passage formed in this way is longer in the front and reardirection than the air blowing guide passage of the lateral louveritself, the air can be sent to a distant place, and the air blowingperformance can be improved.

In this case, since the air blowing guide passage long in the front andrear direction is formed by combining the existing lateral louver 18 andthe existing straightening plate 19 with each other, the number ofcomponents can be reduced to thereby reduce the size and cost, ascompared with the case where the depth length of the lateral louveritself is increased or where the other air guide members are added.

At this time, since the inner surface side of the lateral louver 18 isformed in a recessed curved surface, the air blowing guide passage isformed so as to allow the air blown out from the blowout port 4 to beblown off in the obliquely upward direction (direction of the ceiling)along the recessed curved surface, so that the air can be sent to adistant place.

On the other hand, when an operation command, for example, a heatingoperation command, is outputted from the operation section 31, thecontrol section 30 drives the refrigerating cycle in response to thesignal, and when the predetermined conditions are satisfied, the controlsection 30 drives and controls the lateral louver motor 24 and the fanmotor 33 so that the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed fromthe closed attitude B to the downward blowout attitude C (see FIG. 4).

When the fan 7 is driven, the air is blown to the front side from theblowout port 4 through the air blowing guide passage. The air hits theinner surface 18 b of the lateral louver 18 located in the front opening3 of the cabinet 1 and is guided in the downward direction so that theoperation state is set to the downward blowout state.

In an air blowing state, such as the state of heating or coolingoperation, when the control section 30 receives an air flow directionchanging command from the operation section 31, the control section 30drives and controls the vertical louver motor 23 so that the directionof the air flow from the fan 7 is changed in the left and rightdirection by swinging the vertical louver 20.

FIG. 7 is a control flow chart of the louver and the fan. In the flowchart, a louver means the lateral louver 18, and a louver motor meansthe lateral louver motor 24. Further, in this example, for the sake ofclarity of the description of the attitude changing operation from theupward blowout attitude A to the downward blowout attitude C of thelateral louver 18, and for the sake of clarity of the description of theattitude changing operation from the downward blowout attitude C to theupward blowout attitude A of the lateral louver 18, the attitudechanging operation (step 11 (S11) to step 16 (S16)) from the upwardblowout attitude A or the downward blowout attitude C to the closedattitude B, and the attitude changing operation from the closed attitudeB to the upward blowout attitude A or the downward blowout attitude C(step 17 (S17) to step 20 (S20)) are separately described.

Further, the attitude changing operation from the closed attitude B tothe upward blowout attitude A or the downward blowout attitude Ccorresponds to the operation flow of step 17 (S17) to step 20 (S20).Further, since various modes of attitude changing operations of thelateral louver 18 are conceivable at the time of cooling and heatingoperations, the control method is described exclusively in connectionwith the switching operation of the lateral louver motor 24 and the fanmotor 33 without describing the respective modes of attitude changingoperations of the lateral louver 18.

First, the control section 30 determines whether or not an attitudechange command signal for the lateral louver 18 is inputted after thestarting of operation (S10). When the attitude change command signal isinputted, the control section 30 proceeds to step 11 (S11), otherwise,the control section 30 waits until the attitude change command signal isinputted. In step 11, the control section 30 determines whether or notthe attitude change command signal is the command signal for changingthe attitude of the lateral louver 18 from the upward blowout attitude Ato the closed attitude B (including a command signal for changing theattitude of the lateral louver 18 from the upward blowout attitude A tothe downward blowout attitude C). When the attitude change commandsignal is the command signal for changing the attitude of the laterallouver 18 from the upward blowout attitude A to the closed attitude B,the control section 30 changes the attitude of the lateral louver 18from the upward blowout attitude A to the closed attitude B, whiledriving the louver motor 24 at a speed lower than the usual speed (S12),so as to make the fan motor 33 surely stopped or operated at a low speedat the time when the lateral louver 18 is held in the closed attitude.

When the attitude change command signal is the command signal forchanging the attitude of the lateral louver 18 from the downward blowoutattitude C to the closed attitude B (including the command signal forchanging the attitude of the lateral louver 18 from the downward blowoutattitude C to the upward blowout attitude A) (S13: Yes), the controlsection 30 controls the lateral louver motor 24 to be operated at theusual speed, and determines whether or not the attitude of the laterallouver 18 is changed to the closed attitude B (S15). When the attitudeof the lateral louver 18 is changed to the closed attitude, the controlsection 30 once stops the fan motor 33 and the lateral louver motor 24(S16).

Then, the control section 30 determines whether or not the commandsignal for opening the louver is further inputted (S17). In the casewhere the command signal for changing the attitude of the lateral louver18 from the upward blowout attitude A to the closed attitude B isinputted, or where the command signal for changing the attitude of thelateral louver 18 from downward blowout attitude C to the closedattitude B is inputted, the control section 30 maintains the laterallouver 18 in the closed attitude, and hence in the case, the openingcommand signal is not inputted. When the opening command signal is notinputted in this way (S17: No), the control section 30 ends theprocessing as it is.

When the opening command signal is inputted (S17: Yes), the controlsection 30 again drives the lateral louver motor 24 and the fan motor 33at the usual speed (S18). When the lateral louver 18 is held in thedesignated attitude (the upward blowout attitude A or the downwardblowout attitude C), the control section 30 stops the lateral louvermotor 24 (S20).

Here, the opening command signal includes the command signal forchanging the attitude of the lateral louver 18 from the closed attitudeB to the upward blowout attitude A or the downward blowout attitude C,and either the command signal for changing the attitude of the laterallouver 18 from the upward blowout attitude A to the downward blowoutattitude C, or the command signal for changing the attitude of thelateral louver 18 from downward blowout attitude C to the upward blowoutattitude A. When the command signal for changing the attitude of thelateral louver 18 from the upward blowout attitude A to the downwardblowout attitude C, or the command signal for changing the attitude ofthe lateral louver 18 from downward blowout attitude C to the upwardblowout attitude A is inputted, the control section 30 stores thecommand signal in a storage section. The control section 30 uses thestored command signal as the opening command signal to determine in step17 (S17) “whether or not the louver opening command is inputted”.

In this way, when the attitude of the lateral louver 18 is changed tothe closed attitude B, the air blowing operation is surely stopped orperformed at a low speed, so that the generation of noise can beprevented. Further, when the opening 3 is opened by the rotation of thelateral louver 18, the air blowing operation is resumed, and hence acomfortable operation state can be obtained.

Further, the control section 30 performs control such that, at the timeof the movement of the lateral louver 18 from the upward blowoutattitude A to the closed attitude B, the rotation speed of the laterallouver motor 24 is reduced to be lower than the rotation speed of thelateral louver motor 24 at the time of the movement of the laterallouver 18 from the downward blowout attitude C to the closed attitude B,and thereby the operation of the fan motor 33 is surely stopped orperformed at a low speed in the closed attitude B, so that thegeneration of noise can be prevented.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is configured such that the blowout direction ofthe air sent from the fan is changed by cooperation of the laterallouver provided at the blowout port with the straightening plateprovided on the rear side of the lateral louver, and hence the presentinvention can be applied not only to an indoor unit of an airconditioner provided with a refrigerating cycle but also to other airconditioning devices, such as an air cleaner, a dehumidifier, ahumidifier, and a refrigerator.

1. An air flow direction changing device of an air conditioning device,comprising: a blowout port which is formed in a front surface of an airpassageway in a cabinet; a lateral louver which is rotatably provided onthe front side of the blowout port; a control section which changes theblowout direction of air sent from a fan by rotatably driving andcontrolling the lateral louver in the front surface of the blowout port;and a straightening plate which is provided on the rear side of thelateral louver in the blowout port and straighten the air flow from thefan located on the rear side in the passageway, wherein the controlsection controls the rotation attitude of the lateral louver so that,when the lateral louver is held in an upward blowout attitude, an airblowing guide passage longer than the depth length of the lateral louveritself is formed by cooperation of the upper surface of the laterallouver with the upper surface of the straightening plate.
 2. The airflow direction changing device of an air conditioning device accordingto claim 1, wherein the lateral louver is configured by one laterallouver member, so as to be arranged to cover the front opening of thecabinet at the time when the lateral louver is held in a closedattitude, and is formed to have a curved surface shape corresponding tothe curved surface shape of the front opening of the cabinet.
 3. The airflow direction changing device of an air conditioning device accordingto claim 1, wherein, when the lateral louver is held in the upwardblowout attitude, the inner surface side of the lateral louver is formedin a recessed curved surface, and an air blowing guide passage longerthan the depth length of the lateral louver itself is formed bycooperation of the inner surface side of the lateral louver with thestraightening plate arranged on the rear side of the lateral louver. 4.The air flow direction changing device of an air conditioning deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein a plurality of vertical louvers arearranged on the rear side of the lateral louver in a swingable manner soas to enable the direction of the air from the fan to be changed in theleft and right direction.